Darius Rucker Hopes to Sing With Bob Dylan at CMA Awards

Darius Rucker's No. 1 hit single, 'Wagon Wheel,' earned him two 2013 CMA Awards nominations, for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.

The song was originally penned by Bob Dylan, and finished by Old Crow Medicine Show's Ketch Secor. While Rucker could potentially walk away with the trophy for Single of the Year (which goes to the artist and producer), the Song of the Year honor would go to the writers, including Dylan. But the Grand Ole Opry member says he is working on something that would make him walk away a winner either way.

"You know, my dream would be to get up there and sing that song with Ketch and Dylan," Rucker tells CMT. "That would be awesome, but I don't know what's gonna happen with that."

While Rucker says they are talking to people in Dylan's camp, trying to convince him to at least attend the ceremony, nothing has been confirmed. But should the collaboration happen, the performance would be even more significant since Dylan famously sued Rucker's rock band, Hootie & the Blowfish, over unauthorized use of his lyrics in their song 'Only Wanna Be With You,' which Rucker co-wrote for the band's multi-platinum 'Cracked Rear View' album.

The song, which was actually a tribute to Dylan, included the lyrics, “Said I shot a man named Gray / Took his wife to Italy / She inherited a million bucks / And when she died it came to me / I can’t help it if I’m lucky.” Those lines were a direct quote from Dylan's 'Idiot Wind,' from his 1975 'Blood on the Tracks' album. Dylan and the band reached an out-of-court settlement in 1995.

While 'Wagon Wheel' was a huge hit for Rucker, the South Carolina native says he can't take all the credit for choosing to include the song on his 'True Believers' album.

“Somebody had played ‘Wagon Wheel’ for me years ago,” he recalls. “It was one of those things that I didn’t really get. So, I’m at my daughter’s high school talent show, and I’m sitting in the audience with my family. We were watching my daughter, and the faculty band gets up. It’s just the faculty from her school, and they play ‘Wagon Wheel.’ I’m sitting in the audience, and they get to the middle of the chorus, and I turned to my wife, and I go, ‘I’ve got to cut this song.'"